description
This indicator tracks the use of cover crops, which are plants grown to protect and enrich the soil between cash crop plantings. A key practice in regenerative agriculture, cover crops improve soil health, prevent erosion, increase water infiltration, and reduce the need for fertilizers and herbicides. For the agri-food sector, this indicator is a measure of sustainable farming practices within a supply chain and contributes to building more resilient agricultural systems.
methodology
Builds on satellite based monitoring of vegetation growth and harvest cycles. Using high-resolution, high-frequency data from the European Sentinel 2 satellite constellation an expert model classifies annual croplands into presence or absence of cover crops in-between the main cropping periods.
